Living to Black
by Nightshadowmidnight
Summary: Zeref remembered the last man who came to Tenrōjima. One-shot.


**I've had this idea for a long time... But the latest chapter gave me a lot of Zeref-related excitement...**

* * *

He's stood there in the middle of the clearing; battered, bewildered, bloodied and bruised from countless days and nights fighting for survival God knows where, but here he is now. Right there. In front of the mage in black and looking as if he'd just seen an angel descend from the heavens.

Truthfully, that's probably how he sees the mage in front of him right now. Whereas he stands hunched over and hurting and torn by scrapes and gashes that dirty his once pristine white clothing, the mage appears more composed although underneath he is a quivering mess of fear and his breath begins to grow heavier by the second.

His eyes widen at the shipwrecked man who has wandered deep into the forests of the fairy's island and come across Zeref's path. This man knows not of who he is, and in turn Zeref does not know the identity of the stranger, but he is quick to call him his 'rescue' - his 'saviour' even.

He knows nothing.

He takes a step forwards and Zeref takes a step back. He will not harm another innocent life today.

He won't.

But the man just keeps pushing it.

"N-No..." The words, barely audible and quivering, breathe across his lips. He takes yet another step back. He is aware that he has begun to shake.

"No..." Zeref tries again, but the man becomes more desperate for help and protests. He can understand the sailor's urgency, but he cannot help him.

"You mustn't..." He says, but a whisper. "I cannot help you... I am not your saviour..." His voice becomes louder as he also becomes more desperate. "I will hurt you."

And he turns back and tries to flee into the trees before this stranger can get too close. He does not want to cause this man harm, but his magic - the very magic that once danced at his will and flowed through his fingertips whenever the wish arose - betrays him. His magic is dangerous, deadly and out of control. It is magic that he wishes to avoid coming into contact with other lives and - if possible - hopefully be erased from the history books.

'_I don't want to take anyone's life anymore...'_

But, unknowing of the powers the dark-haired man possesses, the lost man presses on and follows.

_"WAIT!"_

'_No...'_

_'Why are you following me?'_

"I SAID _WAIT!"_

'_Why are you talking to me?'_

_'I told you to stay back...'_

_'I warned you...'_

_'I do not wish to leave you lifeless...'_

_'I do not..!'_

A freezing shiver makes it's way down his spine, spreading throughout his limbs and nerves and chills his very soul and he pauses dead in his tracks and whispers,

"No..."

His vision darkens, becoming grey and blurred, as he twists to meet the terrified eyes of the man who still insists on perusing him throughout the forest. He has also stopped and stares at the mage, his face screaming alarm although his body has not moved from the spot, stuck still in fear.

His eyes almost sting with the knowledge of what will happen next.

He takes a breath as he acknowledges that he can do nothing but endure it.

Thankfully it's over in a second and when Zeref's vision repairs itself he's staring silently at the once flourishing landscape around him turn into something more desolate.

Crunchy, bleached leaves fall from now barren, spindly branches overhead and the flowers wilt and droop to the prickly, decaying grass. The insects have stopped their busy lives and chirping to lay quietly in the bushes that have become the most unhealthy shades of grey or brown.

A sigh is heard from the mage as his gaze settles on the man on the floor; pale, motionless and rendered lifeless by the surge of dark, powerful magic that has helped earn him the title of Killing Mage.

The Killing Mage, the Dark Mage, the Black Wizard Zeref... How he loathed them all. How he wished he and all his creations could just vanish from the course of time.

Slowly stepping over to the man whose name remains unknown, Zeref kneels down in the prickly grass and locks his eyes on the body.

"Why..." His hair falls in front of his eyes and he lets out a strangled sob. "Does the world continue to reject me..?"

A single drop of liquid falls onto the stranger's cold, outstretched hand and rolls down onto the grass which fades from brown to an ominous black.


End file.
